Salpointe Catholic wins 6th straight softball championship

Apparently, the only thing that can stop the Salpointe Catholic High School softball team from winning a state championship tournament year after year: not having the tournament altogether.

Salpointe won its state-record sixth consecutive championship Saturday night at the University of Arizona’s Hillenbrand Stadium — an 11-0 victory over Canyon del Oro to claim the 2024 Class 4A crown. That streak runs back to 2018, only interrupted by COVID’s cancellation of the 2020 state tournament.

Heading into Saturday’s championship game — a matchup moved from the Phoenix area to Tucson after it was clear two Southern Arizona teams would be vying for the trophy — the Lancers were 0-3 against Canyon del Oro this season.

But Saturday was a different story, with Salpointe run-ruling the Dorados in five innings.

“Phenomenal. Phenomenal. It’s just so exciting,” Salpointe head coach Tricia Sztan said. “So exciting. They are all heart and I’m so proud of them.”

The Lancer players didn’t know about the record.

“Did we really? Oh, my gosh,” junior Molli Daley said. “That’s so amazing. I’m so happy to be a part of it. This team is just amazing — same with this program.”

With the win, Salpointe passed Mesa Red Mountain for most consecutive softball state championships across all conferences. Sabino with four (2019-23) and Sahuaro with three (1991-93) are the other local teams in the top 10 of that list.

“Oh my gosh. That’s, honestly — that’s a flex,” Salpointe senior Alma Garcia said with a laugh. “I’m just really proud of this team.”

CDO (33-3) won its first matchup with Salpointe 3-0 back on Feb. 24 in the Dorado Classic Championship. Then the Dorados won the two region games, 4-3 at home on April 12 and 4-0 a week later at Salpointe.

Empire takes 3A softball title

Tucson Empire High School won the Arizona 3A state championship on Saturday night at ASU’s Farrington Stadium in Tempe. The Ravens, the tournament’s seventh seed, defeated No. 1 Chandler Valley Christian 10-6 in the title game.

The win is the third championship for the Ravens under coach Shannon Woolridge; they also won a title in 2017 (3A) and 2015 (Division III). Empire defeated 11th-seed Tanque Verde 6-0 in the semifinals on May 3 to push a Tucson program into the 3A championship round.